The Christmas Present
by Lady Lanera
Summary: Tobias and Eileen would give anything just to hold their son once more after the tragic events of the Final Battle. Could a Christmas present be the key? Post Deathly Hallows.


**Disclaimer:** All_ Harry Potter _characters belong to J.K. Rowling of course.

**A/N: **Tissues will be needed in certain spots. This is your only warning. :D This fic came from another prompt from DaughterOfAres, who wanted another Tobias and Eileen story. I sincerely hope you enjoy.

* * *

Flicking her graying black hair back from her face, the pale woman huffed loudly. Once more, her icy black eyes darted to the square wooden clock on the mantel across from her. Five minutes past six. Her jaw clenched tightly as her index finger started to tap dangerously against her hip. He was late! After telling her for the hundredth time that goddamn week that he wouldn't be, he was late. Oh, she was going to murder him when he finally dragged his arse home. She swore it on her witch's oath.

At the sound of the front door opening a moment later, she crossed her arms and glared daggers at the entryway as she waited for him to finally stroll down the hallway and enter their sitting room where she was. She could hear him emptying his pockets, the change rattling noisily into a bowl followed by a hard thud as he added his keys. She drew in a slow breath at the sound of his approaching footsteps soon after. He'd regret this. With every fiber of his being, she would make it so.

"Tobias Avery Snape," she hissed the second the light-brown haired, hook-nosed man had stepped into the sitting room. She caught the widening of his blue eyes instantly. "How dare you!"

"Huh?" He blinked in clear confusion.

She stepped towards him, though, her nostrils flaring. "How dare you stand me up yet again!"

"_What_?" shouted Tobias, his eyes narrowing on her quickly. He then scoffed and shook his head in disbelief. He kept one hand behind his back as he snorted derisively. "You're out of your mind, woman. Ain't no way I stood you up! You're seeing things." When she smacked him a moment later, he winced and growled quietly. "Eileen," he warned, glaring at her.

"One thing! One thing I ask of you to do today! _Don't be late! _That's it. And what do you do?" she screamed. "You're late! Late, Tobias! On our fucking anniversary!" Her eyes darkened as her glare became even more deadly. "So, come on. Tell me then. What was it this time? Becky needed you to do a breast exam on her to see if she had any lumps?" she hissed.

He sneered and clenched his jaw fiercely. "You're way out of line, El!"

"You were late!"

"I was not!" With his free hand, he then tugged on his long hair in pure frustration. "For Christ's sake, El. I'm an hour early! Go on. Call up Fisher. He'll tell you."

"Stop lying, Tobias! It's five minutes past six."

"No. It's ten minutes past _five_," he growled, thrusting his wristwatch towards her and revealing the bouquet of flowers he had been holding behind his back. "See?"

She made no motion to glance at his watch, though. Instead, she cursed her worthless piece of trash of a husband to kingdom come. How dare he be late on their anniversary! Oh, she should've listened to everyone when they said that he wasn't good enough for her. He truly wasn't. As if flowers would make up for him being late. She wasn't some weak woman who fell for that foolishness.

"Witch, if you don't believe me, then do your little mumbo jumbo shit and check. It's ten past five. Go on," he challenged.

She pointed angrily at the square clock he had made for her long ago. "I don't need to use my magic, Tobias. That clock says ten minutes past SIX!" He burst out laughing a moment later, making her envision ten different ways she could kill him and get away with it. The stupid arsehole. What had she seen in him? Honestly. "What?" she hissed, glaring at him.

"That clock?" he asked, motioning to the clock on the mantel. He set down the bouquet on top of a stack of books and quietly walked over to the clock. He carefully picked it up and held it out to her soon after. "Go on, El. Look at it."

She growled quietly before her eyes flickered to the square object. She then drew in a sharp breath when she noticed what was missing from the back and glanced back at Tobias.

"It stopped working this morning," he calmly explained, "so I took out the battery. I was gonna fix it after work. If you still don't believe me, cast your spell and check. I wasn't late, though, Eileen. Promise. I know how much it means to—"

"It doesn't," she bristled, cutting him off. She would not be one of those women who placed such ridiculous meaning on meaningless days like that. Even though, she knew deep down that she was precisely one of those women.

"Well, it means a lot to me," Tobias countered softly. "It ain't every day you meet a woman who makes you want to be a better man for her."

She closed her eyes and sighed, the tension quickly leaving her body. "Oh, quit it," she lightly rebuked, her voice conveying that she didn't truly mean her words. "You're starting to sound like one of those pathetic greeting cards now."

He chuckled and smiled openly. "Do I?" He then reached behind him and picked up the bouquet of her favorite flowers once more. "Happy anniversary, El."

She took the flowers from him soon after and shook her head. "You shouldn't have wasted money on these." Her voice was softer now, tender almost. It was only behind closed doors where no one else could overhear did she let her guard down like this.

"Probably not, but I've been saving up some money for this." He then cleared his throat before he shoved his hand into his trouser pocket. He pulled out a small velvet box and flashed her that charming smile that she had fallen for all those years ago. "For you." She sighed quietly and glanced at him with that familiar look. "No. Don't give me that look. Just open it, El."

"Toby, we can't afford—"

"Yes, we can," he said firmly. "I already paid it off with those three weekends I worked last month. Now, come on. Make me happy and open it already."

She rolled her eyes and gently took the small box from him. Slowly, she opened it before she inhaled sharply through her nose. Inside the black velvet box was a simple ring with three set stones. She recognized her birthstone instantly since it was the largest one and in the middle. To the left of it was her husband's birthstone, and to the right was her son's.

"I thought about making you something again, but figured you were getting tired of that. Plus, I never could buy you things like this back then because we just didn't have that sort of money. And, well, rings always look better on you," he explained.

She laughed softly and glanced at him. Her arms wrapped around her husband's broad shoulders a moment later, and she rested her head against him to listen to his heartbeat. She couldn't stop herself from sniffling as she thought guiltily about earlier.

"Oh, Toby. I'm sorry," she whispered, closing her eyes.

He snorted and ran his fingers through her hair lovingly. "It's fine, El. I knew you were a spitfire when I married you." His lips then gently brushed hers before he rested his forehead against hers and loosely held her. "I love you, Eileen."

"I love you, too." She then laughed and sighed contently. This was the man she had fallen in love with. Oh, how could she ever doubt him? Sometimes she truly was an idiot.

"How 'bout I treat you with a massage and we call it a night?" he drawled, grinning cockily.

She snorted and rolled her eyes. It never failed. He'd always end up thinking anniversary meant sex for him. However, before she could open her mouth to respond, there was a knock at the front door.

"You didn't buy me a stripper this year, did you, El?" he joked. He chuckled when she playfully slapped his chest. "Don't worry. I'll get rid of them." He stepped out of their embrace and silently walked to the door. He glanced at her when she followed, but didn't say anything. He then opened the front door and sighed. "Yeah?" he gruffly said.

"May I come in, Mister Snape?" quietly asked a tall, black-haired woman who wore torn clothes. Her dull green eyes avoided theirs as she kept her gaze downward.

"Huh?" he replied, raising an eyebrow at the woman. "Do we know you, lass?"

"Let her in, Tobias," Eileen softly said beside him. She watched her husband step to the side and found herself staring at the older woman. Something had happened. The door closed a moment later before the trio walked silently to the sitting room. Without a word, the other woman sat down on the sofa, her hands quickly clasping in her lap. Silence then settled around them, causing Eileen to speak in order to ignore her insides clenching in fear. "Is something wrong, Minerva?"

"Please sit, Eileen," the woman whispered, swallowing and drawing in a slow breath.

And just like that, she knew why Minerva had come. She stared in shock. _No . . ._ Eileen fell back into the threadbare armchair, reaching blindly for her husband's hand for strength.

"What's going on?" Tobias asked, clearly not understanding the unspoken words.

"I." Minerva's voice cracked as tears streaked her dust-smudged cheeks. "I'm sorry, Eileen." Green eyes held black. "Your son" she trembled "didn't survive."

* * *

Severus's funeral had been held in the small cemetery outside of Cokeworth a few days later. It had been a small private event limited to his parents and the four surviving Heads of House. However, Eileen barely could recall it. The entire time she stared at her only child's casket, feeling her heart break even more. Her little boy was in there. And it wasn't fair. Parents weren't supposed to bury their children before them ever. It was wrong. So very wrong.

Even the way her son had died was wrong. A lethal snake bite to his neck? He was the fucking premier Potions master in Europe! Hell, he had known how to brew the proper anti-venom potion since he was seven! Eileen herself had taught him that in their kitchen, much to Tobias's disapproval. It didn't make sense to her. None of it did.

However, beyond her anger at the wretched snake and pathetic wizard who ordered her son's death rested was pure hatred for whoever burned her son's body. Had it not been for the blood droplets Pomfrey found from the neck wound, Eileen still wouldn't have had positive identification of her son. She wanted to slaughter whoever it was that desecrated his body. Unforgivables were too good for them.

Her eyes remained on the wooden casket as it was slowly lowered into the ground. She felt her husband squeeze her hand and heard his stifled sobs beside her. She wanted to crawl in there with her son and be buried with him. What more was there to live for after all? Her family was gone now.

After the funeral, she and Tobias returned to home. She held her husband silently, unable to cry any more herself as he wept openly against her. This was their little boy. Their sweet little boy. And he had been ripped from them.

She hated them. With their lies of how it'd be okay. How the hell could it ever be all right with her only child dead? They had turned their backs on him. All of them! Hell, the supposed savior of the Wizarding World left her son there like discarded trash as Severus lay dying in a pool of his own blood. The bastards wouldn't even hang his portrait in the headmaster's office now! Traitor and murderer they called him in the papers. After all her son had given the ungrateful bastards, they still treated him like trash. Like he was nothing. But she knew the truth. Her son had made her proud. So proud of her boy.

* * *

The months that followed seemed to go by so slowly. As if time truly wasn't moving anymore. Which for the grieving parents it wasn't. They continued to mourn in their own ways. For Eileen, she withdrew from everything, finding it difficult to get out of bed some days. For Tobias, he threw himself fully into his work, hiding desperately from his pain. They were lost in their grief.

Wiping her eyes, Eileen slowly pushed herself up to sit on the edge of her son's old bed. The bedding still smelled like him, so some nights now she found herself sleeping in his old room. Just to convince herself that he was still alive. That she hadn't lost her only child.

"Morning," Tobias murmured from the doorway as he looked in at her sadly.

She glanced at her husband before she closed her eyes. Her slender fingers lightly picked at the worn sheets on the small bed as she said nothing. What was there to say after all?

"Gonna make us some breakfast. Waffles okay?"

She shrugged. "I guess. I'm not really hungry, though." She glanced up at him when he crossed the room and knelt in front of her.

"El, you gotta eat," he quietly said, staring up at her.

"I'm not hungry," she repeated firmly. She looked away when he sighed heavily. She truly didn't feel like eating anymore or doing anything really. "I'll have some tea, though," she forced herself to say.

"Thank you." He kissed her hands gently before he stood up and walked out of the room then.

Her dark eyes flickered around her son's old room. The paint had been peeling off the walls for years, and there were spots on the ceiling where she recognized curse marks on the ceiling. There were no photos anywhere. No hung posters of athletes or movies. In essence, the only things that proved that it was her son's room were memories and his scent. Beyond that, the room was empty and devoid of any sense of whom the room had belonged to.

"Oh, Severus," she whispered, hugging his pillow against her chest as if pretending it was her dead son. "I miss you." She then drew in a slow breath and stood up, the pillow set back on the bed. It was time to go through the motions that were now her life. She silently left a moment later.

She frowned as she walked down the rickety old stairs, minding the missing and cracked floorboards. The old row house had desperately been neglected over the years. But when one doesn't have money, it was then tough to fix it up. Her eyes then narrowed even more when she saw her husband standing in the kitchen looking at something in the sitting room.

"What is it?" she asked. She caught him tense before he turned towards her with a look of surprise. "Tobias?"

"It's December," he breathlessly whispered.

"What?"

"It's December, El."

"So?" She tried to keep the bite out of her voice, but she failed at it. So what if it was December? It wasn't like St. Nicholas would bring her son back from the dead for Christmas.

"No. The calendar says it's December, El," he explained with a confused look as he pointed at the hanging calendar on the wall. "Did you change it last night?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Well, I didn't," he argued. His frown deepened before he walked towards the fireplace.

Eileen watched him before a sound slowly filtered into her ears. A sound she hadn't heard since May. She swallowed when the ticking echoed around the room, her eyes falling on the square wooden clock in her husband's hand now.

"It's working again," she said aloud, mostly to herself.

"Yeah . . ."

"When'd you fix it?"

"I didn't, El," her husband replied, staring at her in disbelief.

"Then who did?" She stared back at him before staring down at the now working clock.

"I ain't got a clue." He then shook his head, putting the clock back. "Come on. Let's get out of here for a bit. Go for a walk and clear our heads." He held his hand out to her and gave her a faint smile when she took it. Silently, the couple then left the house that was clearly playing tricks on them.

* * *

Over the next six days, even more strange things happened around their house. The day after the clock was fixed and the calendar was changed to show that it was twelve days before Christmas, they came downstairs to find fresh long-stemmed electric blue and purple flowers in vases scattered about the rooms. They quickly found whenever they walked past any of the vases, the flower in it would start to glow faintly and bathe the room in a soft light.

The day after that, every piece of silverware and jewelry was polished, along with the dishes left in the sink being washed. All of it looked like it had never been used before ever. The dishes even had the old rust and lime deposits removed, something Eileen had tried to do for decades. They had thought at the time of calling the cops. But, really, what would they say? That someone had broken in and done their dishes? The constable would send them straight to the mental hospital for that.

The next day after that, they found brand new bedding in their master bedroom and their son's room. They were definitely scratching their heads at the new bedding in their room, wondering how they hadn't noticed it when they had gone to bed. Wasn't that something a person should notice?

On the fifth day, they returned from another walk to find their house entirely dust free. Every book was wiped clean, and every counter was scrubbed down until it was spotless. They had glanced at each other, wondering if they had gone around the bend. She finally gave in to Tobias then and asked a wizard who hunted ghosts to look around. The wizard found nothing, spectral or otherwise.

And on the sixth day, as they went out for a walk, they found their tall, black dilapidated front door replaced by a deep mahogany one. Eileen's fingers lightly traced one of the many protective runes that were carved elegantly into the wood, recognizing that the runes warded out burglars and people who would do them harm. She glanced towards her husband and saw him staring at the iron-wavelike design inside the single pane window on the door. It was the sort of front door one would expect to see on the prime minister's residence, not some rundown row house in Cokeworth.

On the seventh day, Eileen turned the faucet on and gasped when clean water came out of the tap. Her eyes darted to her husband who sat at the kitchen table stunned. Tobias had fought with that damn thing for thirty-some damn years to no avail! They had long since given up on ever having crystal clear water. None of their neighbors had it after all, so why would they? They then called the municipal building and asked if the well had been cleaned and if that was why they now had clean water, only to learn that it hadn't been. Whoever had fixed their water had done it inside Eileen and Tobias's house.

On the eleventh day when they returned from their three-day escape from their seemingly haunted house, they found the broken bookcases in the sitting room fixed good as new with strands of garland hung about the room and a large heavily-decorated Christmas tree tucked into the corner. The books were now put away in alphabetical order, each broken up into their individual sections. In fact, where there had been stacks of books everywhere, now there only remained bare polished wooden floor. Eileen narrowed her eyes as she caught a lime green Post-It note on a bookshelf. She watched Tobias walk towards it and frowned when he removed the note and revealed a button. Her mouth quickly opened to tell him not to as she watched in horror when he then pushed that black button on the wall. She inhaled sharply when the bookcase swung out and revealed a hidden one with the rest of her books.

They then went into the kitchen to grab themselves a glass of water to ease their troubled minds, only to find their kitchen entirely redone. The chipped paint was long gone. The cabinet doors that hung by a hinge were nowhere to be found. In their place was their dream kitchen from forty years ago, the one that Tobias had promised to build for her when they had enough money. Eileen turned away and headed upstairs, seeking the solace of her son's bed to hold his pillow once more and feel better.

She screamed the minute she turned the corner and saw the stairs. The broken or cracked steps weren't there anymore. Someone had completely redone their staircase even. It was polished and sanded and perfect, absolutely perfect. She couldn't take it anymore. She turned into him and cried onto his shoulder. Who was doing this? Severus from the grave? Or someone else, trying to drive them insane?

"It looks like Sev's first Christmas," Tobias murmured above her.

It truly did. Down to the littlest detail. Their hearts ached as they headed upstairs to bed. Tomorrow would be Christmas. But all they could think about was how much they missed their son. How they'd give anything just to hold him once more. They held each other tightly and cried together.

* * *

On Christmas morning, the parents woke up to the sweet smells of breakfast. They glanced at each other before they slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs. They entered the kitchen and saw the plates of steaming food on the table, but ignored it as they heard soft sounds in their sitting room. Perhaps today was the day where they'd learn the truth about who this phantom Good Samaritan was.

Turning the corner a moment later, Eileen gasped loudly as Tobias jumped. There under the twinkling Christmas tree was their son with a green metallic bow pinned proudly to his black-clad chest. He looked exactly how he had when Eileen had watched him leave to be the headmaster of Hogwarts last year. Well, perhaps not exactly like last year. His hair had grayed a bit more, and there were less worry lines on his face now. She then quickly noticed that her son wasn't alone. Sitting beside him was a curly dark-haired woman holding in her lap a giggling girl with blond ringlets.

"Happy Christmas, Mother," her son spoke with a bit of a rough voice.

"Is this real or a dream?" she whispered. She honestly wasn't certain at this point. She felt her husband's hand slip into hers and stared at their son. If it was a dream, they never wanted to wake up.

"It's real, Mum," chuckled Severus. He then slowly pulled his collar back and revealed thin white scars to his neck. "A memento from Riddle's damn snake. If it hadn't been for Aurora, you would have buried me in that grave instead of some nameless git."

"You faked your death?" Tobias questioned breathlessly.

"I suppose you could say that," their very alive son replied, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"How else would you say it?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing dangerously on him. A part of her wanted to stride across the sitting room and slap her insolent brat of a son.

Severus shrugged. "I came to and found some git with his wand pointed at me. I didn't have my wand and I wasn't in any shape to duel clearly. Luckily" he glanced at the woman beside him "Aurora was around and dealt with him for me." He flashed a brief smile at the woman before he turned back to his mother. "She forced his spell to rebound on him. So he, for the lack of a better description, burnt to a crisp, and she Disapparated us far away. The rest of that story was assumed on their parts, not due to any of our efforts I assure you. Aurora was busy healing me and keeping me from bleeding out."

Eileen's eyes narrowed into slits, the words bursting from her lips a moment later. "For eight months, we grieved for you!"

With clear fear in her big black eyes, the little girl quickly pressed herself against Aurora. Severus, however, stood there solemnly and waited for Eileen's rant to finish.

"And you never once thought about sending us a note? About telling us the truth? That you were alive, Severus Tobias Snape!"

"Eileen," Tobias warned.

"Mother—"

"For eight months, your father and I have gone through hell because of you!"

"I know, Mum," her little brat softly said, clearly apologetically.

"No. No you don't know, Severus! You can't possibly know that pain!" she growled, feeling Tobias squeeze her hand firmly once more to get her to stop. She ignored her husband, though.

"Trust me. You're not the only ones who didn't know. Aurora's parents don't even know."

"As if I care about some silly woman's parents!" snapped Eileen. "You are _my_ son, Severus! My only child! I believed that you had died. I was convinced that I had buried you. And then you come waltzing in here today as if everything's all right now, wearing that goddamn bow like you're a freaking Christmas present!"

Aurora softly cleared her throat, running her fingers through the little girl's hair tenderly. Her eyes darted up at Severus's with a look that clearly said 'I told you so.'

"I'm sorry, Mother!" her son replied hoarsely, his voice clearly having been affected by Nagini's attack last May.

"Well, sorry isn't going to cut it this time, brat," Eileen yelled before hearing stifled laughs from the little girl. Her dark eyes glanced at the girl. She frowned deeply at the sight of her son's black eyes staring back at her. "Oh, _lovely_," she drawled, throwing her hands into the air. "I have a granddaughter I know nothing about either!" She then glared at Aurora. "Let me guess. You're his wife?"

"Uh, no. Not really." Aurora laughed nervously, running a hand through her own curls before she stood up with the little girl against her hip. "I'm your son's fiancée."

Eileen's eyes darted back at her son. "What? You could knock her up but you couldn't bear to marry her?" She caught her son's wince instantly.

"No, Mother. It's not that."

"Oh? Then please, Severus. Tell me about this secret life of yours that I know nothing about."

"Aurora and I couldn't marry until after the Dark Lord was finally defeated. It was too dangerous to. If they learned of our relationship, they'd have used her to get to me."

"So instead you have a child with her and allow them even more leverage to use over you?"

"He didn't." Aurora then groaned and tried to correct herself. "I mean, Angel's his, but nobody knows about her. Not even my parents."

"What?" Eileen's eyes narrowed on her. "Impossible. You couldn't hide a—"

"I used concealment charms my entire pregnancy, and I took potions to deal with any nausea I had." She then held up her hand when Eileen opened her mouth. "I went to a Muggle hospital for my prenatal exams and made certain to use an alias the entire time so it couldn't be traced back to either of us. I did it all the Muggle way, Eileen, including having that pathetic epidural that so doesn't really work when you're pushing a seven pound baby out of you."

Eileen blinked once then twice. However, it seemed the witch wasn't finished quite yet.

"I had her shortly after the start of the summer break, so Severus and I were with her for three months away from Hogwarts. When we had to go back, it took some creativity, but we snuck her back into the castle with us. Whenever someone would come to my rooms, unexpected or otherwise, I would put a disillusion charm on her so I could see and hear her but that they couldn't. Every morning Severus would sit with her under the excuse of us supposedly holding Slytherin house meetings. And every night she would be with him in his rooms until I finished my class and then I'd join them. We had a lot of Flooing back and forth between our rooms to be with our little girl honestly," she admitted with a laugh.

"And no one realized that you had an infant in your rooms?"

"Well, Severus doesn't really let people into his rooms, and I already told you how I did it. I mean, after I had her, I had to keep using my glamour charms until I lost my pregnancy weight again. And I made sure that I pumped at regular intervals to make sure there weren't accidents. But if there was one and I started to leak breast milk, I'd just pull my robes closer, excuse myself, and deal with it.

Eileen raised her brow at Aurora before she turned back to her son. She cuffed him upside the head and frowned as she quietly scolded, "You idiot."

"Did you two do all the work to the house?" Tobias asked suddenly, gaining their attention.

"We did. It was sometimes difficult because you two wouldn't always leave, so sometimes I resorted to sleeping spells I admit," Severus admitted softly.

"Why?"

"Because your son thought that it'd help smooth things over for when we showed up today. I told him that it wouldn't work, but he didn't listen clearly," Aurora explained with a sigh.

"You had us thinking we were losing our minds, Severus," Eileen growled, glaring back at him.

"It sounded good in my head," her son replied quietly.

Aurora laughed. "Most things do," she said with a cheeky smile. Her warm brown eyes then darted back to Eileen. "How about we start again?" She held her hand politely out to Tobias and Eileen. "I'm Aurora Sinistra, your son's fiancée." She flashed a warm smile when Tobias shook her hand. "And this little one is Angel Celestria Snape." She leaned to the little girl's ear then and whispered something.

"Hi, Gama and Gampa," the little girl said totally adorably a moment later.

Eileen felt her anger dissipate then. She smiled back and felt her heart warm. Her granddaughter was cute, she'd give her that much. She could see Tobias already adapting to his doting grandfather role.

"Am I forgiven yet, Mum?" Severus asked quietly a few moments later.

"We'll see after breakfast, brat," Eileen replied mildly. She ripped the bow off her son's chest and hit him with it for good measure before tossing the bow aside. Her arms then wrapped around her son as she held him soon after. She smiled at Tobias who did the same on Severus's other side. Their son was alive, and that was their greatest Christmas present of all.


End file.
